The company has been promising a demonstration of its latest self-driving capacity with a drive across the country by the end of the year – likely in November or December, Musk said.

So will there be something new on that at the Model 3 unveiling? Something that could spark even more orders as Musk implied last year?

Electrek’s Take

While Tesla has been frequently updating its Autopilot software on Model S and Model X vehicles equipped with second generation hardware since last October, it’s only barely now reaching performance parity with the first generation Autopilot.

At first glance, it’s difficult to imagine what new could come with Model 3 since Model S and X already have been leading on that front and they are expected to continue to lead as Musk reinforced the idea that the two vehicles will remain Tesla’s flagship premium cars even after the Model 3 hits the roads.

But the fact that Model S and Model X don’t have new Autopilot features enabled by the new hardware suite yet doesn’t mean that they are not testing those new features in “shadow mode” inside the vehicles, something Tesla has confirmed to test in the past.

Therefore, I wouldn’t be surprised by new Autopilot features being demonstrated on the Model 3 at the event in order to be soon released on all of Tesla’s vehicles equipped with the second generation Autopilot hardware.

Furthermore, Tesla will need to sell those features to Model 3 reservation holders looking to convert their reservations into orders. The automaker has been including the expensive Autopilot hardware on all vehicles in order for its whole fleet to benefit from the safety features that it enables, like automatic emergency braking and collision alerts, but it counts on customers buying the “convenience feature packages” (‘Enhanced Autopilot’ and ‘Fully Self-Driving Capability’) in order to pay for them.

With Model S and Model X starting at over $70,000, it has less of an impact if the buyers decided not to take those features, but that’s more significant for Tesla with the Model 3 starting at $35,000. It’s something to think about.